Humanitarian conditions in the Sudanese city of El Obeid and two camps on its outskirts are dire and deteriorating, according to people on the ground, as civilians displaced by fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia continue to pour in from the surrounding countryside.

The UN says more than 15,000 families have arrived since mid-July, joining more than 200,000 people who arrived in the first half of the year, according to government figures cited by Save the Children.

“The situation is very harsh and is deteriorating as El Obeid is receiving IDPs [internally displaced people] on a daily basis … The city is shockingly overcrowded,” said Maryam, a humanitarian volunteer whose name has been changed for her safety.

The new arrivals came on foot, carrying almost nothing, she said. “They also suffer from a shortage of food and they definitely arrive traumatised.”